Richard Sherman called the most horrible things by folks who insist that's not racism: Jarvis DeBerry

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) celebrates
after the NFC divisional playoff game between the New Orleans Saints and
Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Saturday, January
11, 2014. (Michael DeMocker, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune)
(Michael DeMocker, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune))

That's Not Racism: a feature by Jarvis DeBerry

Richard Sherman went off Sunday, and when I say off, I mean all the
way off. The Seattle Seahawks cornerback broke up what would have been a
last-minute, game-winning touchdown pass to 49er's wide receiver
Michael Crabtree, and then Sherman, with words and throat-choking
gestures, let Crabtree know his low opinion of Crabtree's receiving
skills. During the post-game interview with reporter Erin Andrews,
Sherman was still woofing, going on and on about how great he is and how
utterly ridiculous it was for the 49ers to throw a pass his direction -
he being the league's best corner - with the Super Bowl at stake.

Here
are some words that fit Sherman - at least in that moment: "egotist,"
"blowhard," "bra rt," maybe even "preening jerk" and "jackass." But
some folks put out by his over-the-top performance said harsher things on social media outlets.
To them, Sherman's trash talking made him a "fricken jungle monkey,"
"an ignorant ape," an "f---ing gorilla." Then there were the words
"cocky," "gorilla," "typical," "dumb," "disrespectful," "no class,"
"irrogant" and "high-payed" (sic and sic) all used to modify a certain
racial epithet that begins with n.

The person who tweeted that
Sherman needs to be admitted to "an animal hospital because he is a
f----ng gorilla" ended the post with the hashtag #noracismintended.
Seriously. Other critics of Sherman's were similarly certain of their non-racism even as they were throwing about loaded racial language.

That's not the way the world works, folks. You don't get to call a black man a gorilla and then absolve your own self of racism.

I settled on a name for this feature, "That's not racism,"
well before that hashtag was created. I chose the name because of the
prevalence of people who say and believe obviously racist things and
then insist that it wasn't racism. If using racially-charged epithets
isn't racism, and the folks who use them to insult others aren't racist,
then what is racism? And who is racist?

Hours before Sunday's NFC
Championship Game, I was preparing to give a presentation to students
who had come from across the state to Metairie's Grace King High School
for a meeting of the Louisiana Association of Student Councils. The girl
who showed me around campus said she'd scored high on the ACT but was
unsure if she could get into Stanford. That university, with a 5.69
percent acceptance rate, has pulled out in front of Harvard as America's most selective campus.

Sherman went to Stanford.
Not only did he go to Stanford, but he did well and graduated. Not only
did he do well and graduate, but he also stayed around and earned a
master's degree. All that speaks to his intelligence. His on-field play
speaks to his work ethic. So how exactly is he "lazy and stupid" as at
least one Twitter user suggested?

Last year, after the shooting at the Mother's Day second line in New Orleans, I wrote of my frustration with selecting nouns
to talk about the people who are responsible for gun violence in our
city. I had considered "thugs," I said, but almost never use that word
because it has become racially loaded, a more acceptable substitute for a
forbidden epithet. The folks who've now labeled Sherman a thug make my
point. There are plenty fitting descriptors for Sherman's behavior
Sunday, but how you could arrive at thug is beyond me.

Sherman did appear to be crazy Sunday, but it seems more the
case he was crazy like a fox. His brother said his gesture to Crabtree -
extending his hand as if to shake it - was meant to remind the wide
receiver of a party last summer when Crabtree had refused to shake his
hand. As somebody who was drafted far later than he thinks was respectful
- fifth round, 154th pick - and is about to be negotiating for a new
contract, Sherman wants the world to see that none of the 27 defensive
backs picked before him is as good as he is.

When
I get to the NFL, I'm gonna destroy the league, as soon as they give me
the chance." -- Seattle's Richard Sherman's on being drafted so low.

Speaking of his draft-day experience, Sherman told Yahoo.com
in a December 2012 interview, "I celebrated because my family was happy
and the dream had been realized. I wasn't gonna ruin that moment for my
family. But in the back of my mind, I was livid. ... I was like, 'When I
get to the NFL, I'm gonna destroy the league, as soon as they give me
the chance.' And that's what I've been doing ever since."

Call him arrogant. Call his behavior outrageous. Call him
out-of-line and unsportsmanlike. But don't call him an animal out of the
jungle and expect reasonable folks to believe that that's not racism.

Nothing wrong with him.. The ones with the problem are the ones that took a passionate and real interview as an excuse to justify being racist pricks..

While they were trying to belittle the dude, some of them didn't even realize that the dude graduated #2 in his high school class and graduated from Stanford with Honors.. So, yes, a lot of them were left with their feet in their mouths..

I personally saw nothing wrong with what he said.. He didn't curse or any of that.. Dude just got back at Crabtree and made Crabtree put his foot in his mouth.. I was all there for it..

It's over now and he got all the real niccas support. The coons are with the racist whites throwing shots cause he not on their team. He already got verbal support from one of the GOAT athletes of all time Hank Aaron and he's set up to make 5 million in endorsements. I think big Sherm is good to go.

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